Family Abandons Mormon Church After 40 Years of Faith - Kevin and Jennifer Lundquist | Ep. 2001

Mormon Stories Podcast

Dr. John Dehlin

Religion & Spirituality

4.5 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 184 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this heartfelt episode, Kevin and Jennifer share their inspiring journey through their Mormon upbringing, missions, and eventual faith transition. They discuss navigating doubts, supporting their gay and transgender children, and redefining what love and family mean. From facing church pressures to embracing authenticity, their story highlights resilience, acceptance, and the power of unconditional love. Don't miss this moving conversation about finding peace and purpose beyond organized religion.

Show Notes

YouTube

00:05:25 Kevin’s story begins

00:14:20 Kevin met with general authority Paul H. Dunn to get approved for his mission

00:27:58 Jennifer’s Story begins

00:36:11 They met again with Paull Dunn about getting married in the temple

00:48:38 Defining their own gender roles in their marriage

01:01:18 Concerns with paying tithing

01:09:00 Teenage son struggling with p*rn and coming out as gay

01:17:48 Their gay son decided to serve a mission; he was told his mission will “cure him of his gayness”

01:30:00 Mission president refused to let him go home, and had possession of his passport

01:38:00 Kevin told his son “never try to make the church work for you - it never will”

01:51:55 Their gay son says that if he was not able to leave the mission he may have committed suicide

02:08:50 Their daughter tells them she is done with the church; she experienced love bombing

02:12:50 Kevin asks his mom, “If the church wasn't true would you want to know” - she says no

02:16:50 “If there is a place in the church for my gay son, we will reconsider”

02:30:40 Discussing transgender issues in the church

02:40:48 Why do a lot of ex-Mormons turn to atheism after leaving the church?

02:28:20 Has the way that they see “love” and “family” changed over the years? What do they mean for them now?

02:56:23 Final thoughts

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Mormon stories podcast.
0:03.8	I'm your host, John DeLinn. It's February 20th, 2025.
0:08.3	And today we're answering the question of what happens when you feel like the Mormon church or your high-demand religion is threatening your family.
0:20.7	And you feel like you are faced with the question of church or family, do you choose
0:27.6	church over family or family over church?
0:30.4	And how does that play out?
0:32.2	We're so grateful to have with us today.
0:35.2	So often many of you ask that we just never stop interviewing just normal average
0:41.3	everyday Mormons.
0:42.7	And though none of us are purely average, that's what we have for you today, his normal
0:48.1	Mormon couple.
0:49.9	We bring to you today all the way from the golden what is it the golden gate city what is
0:56.1	San Francisco called yeah I think the Golden State City yeah anyway we have Kevin and
1:04.9	Jennifer Lundquist hi guys hi welcome to Mormon Stories. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Yeah.
1:11.4	And of course, I'm joined today by my partner, Margie.
1:15.6	Hey, Margie.
1:16.2	Hi, there.
1:16.8	Thanks for joining us.
1:18.0	Yes.
1:19.2	All right.
1:20.1	Well, it's an important theme because we believe that people should never have to choose between family and their faith.
1:29.6	But what happens when you feel like there are pressures in that regard?
	...

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